We have supper on the terrace each night, soaking up these
lovely evenings free from mosquitoes and pollen. No wonder brides pick June!
Mark and I spent a couple of days in the hills, checking
cows, putting out salt, and fencing. Ranching is pretty much about fencing, in
case you didn’t know.
We made the lap around our current pasture which is an old
dry farm that was converted to conservation reserve program (CRP) ground and
then used for grazing for the last 15 years or so. It was planted with a single
grass species when it was turned into CRP ground, but it’s gaining a variety of plants as time goes by.
Diversity in pastures is a good thing. Just like a community
benefits from a variety of job opportunities, so does an ecosystem depend on a
diversity of plants and animals. If the lumber mill closes down, it’s a good
thing if there are dairies, farms, and a fabrication shop to keep people
employed. So true on the range as well. Spring is cool and wet, summer is hot
and dry and each year is different, so a variety of plants means there's always
something green and growing to keep the range productive for cows as well as
other wildlife - songbirds, badgers, or soil organisms.
I’m always on the lookout for different species showing up
on the dry farm. It’s easy to spot them now - wild roses, dandelions, yarrow,
sagebrush, bluegrass, and timothy. A range scientist told me once it would take
some thirty years before native species would return to a previously farmed
area on the range and it’s proving to be true. Thirty years is a long time to a
human, but not so much to an ecosystem. We believe the cows add much needed
diversity themselves and speed up the process.
It’s Seth’s birthday tomorrow. He’ll turn twenty-one with
some Kentucky FFA kids. Happy birthday son! God speed and safe travels.
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| Mark repairing fence |
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| it's been spliced before |
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| a perfect day in June |
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